After seeing three separate leads evaporate, Adam Hall and his Delmarva Shorebirds made the fourth one stick, outlasting the West Virginia Power 10-7 in 10 innings at Appalachian Power Park.
With the game tied 5-5 after nine, the Shorebirds started the top of the 10th with Seamus Curran at second base. Jean Carlos Encarnacion and Ben Breazeale led off with back-to-back walks, then after a strikeout Cody Roberts hit a tough grounder to short for an infield hit, scoring Curran to put the Shorebirds up 6-5. After another strikeout, Jaylen Ferguson worked a full count and muscled an inside pitch into shallow left for a single, plating Encarnacion and Breazeale. Hall followed by tagging a two-run double down the left field line, making it a five-run Delmarva 10th and a 10-5 lead.
The Power mustered a rally of their own in the bottom of the 10th. With Ryan Ramiz starting at second, J.R. Davis grounded him over to third and Julio Rodriguez singled to bring him home. Bobby Honeyman followed with a base hit, and David Sheaffer got hit by a pitch to load the bases. Joseph Rosa got one more home with an RBI groundout to first to get it to 10-7, but Delmarva's Reed Hayes struck out Nick Rodriguez to end the game and lock down the Shorebirds' three-game sweep.
Hayes pitched a perfect ninth and battled through the 10th to pick up his first win. Sal Biasi took the loss, surrendering all five runs (four earned) in the 10th.
The climactic 10th served as a final sequel to several mid-inning skirmishes that saw Delmarva take the lead and West Virginia pull back into it. In the top of the fourth, Seamus Curran belted a solo home run to put the Shorebirds up 1-0. The Power answered in their half of the fourth as Davis walked with one out, Rodriguez hit into a fielder's choice, Honeyman singled, and Sheaffer singled to bring in Rodriguez, tying it at 1-1.
Hall singled with two out in the top of the fifth and promptly stole second, and Cadyn Grenier followed with a gap-splitting double to left center, scoring Hall to make it 2-1. Manny Pazos had the answer in the West Virginia fifth, belting a solo home run to knot it at 2-2.
Ferguson and Hall provided a 1-2 punch at the top of the Shorebird lineup, going a combined 6-for-10 with each recording a double, run, and two RBIs. Hall also walked twice and stole two bases, giving him an even 20 on the season. Roberts went 2-for-5 with a double, two runs, and an RBI, while Curran homered for the second straight night and grabbed a second-place tie on the SAL leaderboard with his 15th dinger.
|
